Sparking-igniter mechanism.



No. 758,217. PATENTED APR. 26,,.1904.

' c. c. & E. RIOTTE.

SPARKING IGNITER MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. I5, 1901.

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Patented n rnae, 1904 UNITED STATES PATENT OF ICE.

CARL o. RIOTTE AND EUGENE RIorrnoE NEW Yoiuc iL-r.

SPARKlNG-IGNITER MEHANlSM.

SPECIFICATIONformiug partof Letters Patent No. 758,21 7, dated April 26, I904. Application filed April 15, 1901. Serial No. 55,860, filo model.)

To all. tvhont it may concern:

Be it known that iVByCABL C. RIotrTE and EUGENE A. RIOTTE, citizens of the: United States, residing in. the borough of Manhattan,

city, county, and State of New York, have jointly invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sparking-igniter Mechanism,

of which the following is a specification.

Our invention aims to provide an igniter mechanism for explosion-engines and the like in which are combined various features of improvement, as specified in the claims hereinafter.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, showing one embodiment of our invention, Flgure 1 IS an end elevat on of our apparatus as applied to a four-cylinder engine.- I Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the operation of the adjusting-rod. Fig. 5 is a side elevation, partly in section, showing the feature of our invention-which is adapted to single igniters.

. Figs. 6 and Tare fragmentary sections showing diiferent positions of the igniter-arm with reference to the operating member.

Referring to the drawings, A represents'the cylinders of any suitable multiple-cylinder engine, of which B is the. base, C the crank shaft chamber, and D the crank-shaft, all these parts being of well-known construction. In the operation of explosion-engines the timing of the ignition and the consequent explosion is dependent upon the speed of the engine. At: high speeds the ignition should occur before the crank reaches the dead-center.

As the speed is slowed,.however, in order to prevent the force of the explosion from causing the engine to kick back the ignition should be delayed, and at very slow speeds it is advisable to operate the igniter an instant after the crank passes the dead-center. The adjustment of the ignite-rs for the various speeds of the engine is a matter requiring considerable care. For amultiple-cylinder engine the igniters of each of the cylinders should be simultaneously advanced or retardedto secure even working of the engine and to insure against kicking back, and during operation 5 they should remain immovable in corresponding positions of adjustment relatively to each other. To adjust each of the igniters sepa rately requires considerable delay and does not. insure that each shall be adjusted exactly equally, so as to precede or follow the moment of dead-center by an equal amount or that they shall remainso and immovable relatively to eachother. According to one feature of our invention we provide aver-y simplemechanism whereby the timing'of the several igniters is varied simultaneously andby exactly equal amounts. For this purpose we preferably operate the igniters bymeans of-a: series of cams which operate a corresponding series of igniter-rods, the means for transmitting the motion of the cams'to the igniter-rods being adjustable and being connected immovably to each other, as by means of .a single operating member arranged for hand operation orotherwise, and also arranged to be frictionally held passive in any position of adjustment in which it may be moved by hand or by the kicking back of the cam, or otherwise.

An example of such mechanism is shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. Driven from the crank-shaft D of the engine by anysuitable transmitting each igniter-rod H to operate its ignitenwhichwe designate as a whole by the letter J. In

order to Vary the timeat which the rod H will be lifted by its cam, we provide ameans fol-transmitting the movement ofthe cam to fihe.-1f-Od,'Wl1iCl1 means is adjustablein position and preferably consists of a rod K, provided with a shouldered lug L on its face in in contact with the. cam, and we provide for the movement of the rodK, so that the lugL shall be released from its cam at an earlier or later instant, as desired.

- In order that all of the adjusting-rods K shall be moved simultaneously and an equal distance, they are connected to any common operating member, such as the shaft M, by

means of arms N thereon. The shaft is provided also with one or more operatingarms 0, which maybe operated directly by the handle P or by any other suitable means.

The arm 0 bears with considerable friction against a friction-plate R, which is shown as mounted on the end of the cylinders and which may or may not be provided with an index-scale S to show the time of operation of the igniter with respect to the position of the crank.

In an engine of the type shown our mechanism is conveniently arranged by mounting the cam-shaft on the same side of the engine with the igniters, so that a single straight rod H is used to convey the movement of the cam tothe igniter-arm. The shaft M may be arranged on the opposite side of the-engine supported in bearings Ton the portions B of the casing. The adjusting-rods K may thus pass through the spaces B between the portions B of the casing. The operating-arm O of the shaft M may be at any convenient point other than at the end of the shaft, as shown in Fig. 2.

Those parts of the mechanism which have no relation to our invention are omitted from the drawings for the sakeof clearness. In order to prevent the dropping of the lug L of the adjusting-rod K on the cam and the wearing away of these parts, we preferably provide lugs U, upon which the rods K fall when they are released by the cams. These lugs, as shown, may be directly on the frame inside the openings B When the engine is slowed down and it becomes necessary to retard the ignition, the arm 0 is thrown in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 1, which throws the adjusting-rod K to the leftas, for example, to the dotted-line position in Fig. 4:'whereby instead of dropping when the cam reaches the position shown it will be held an instant longer. By the arrangement shown there is obviously very little strain on the adjusting-rod, so as to throw it out of adjustment, and whatever accidental strains come upon it are resisted by the frictional contact between the arm 0 and the friction member B.

By our invention we also simplify the con-- struction of the igniter and provide a very efficient means for giving it the desired operation. For this purpose we provide the igniter with an arm on the outside of the ignitionchamber, which is operated by a reciprocating member'such as the rod H, above referred toand we provide also a means whereby the arm is held in its normal position by a yielding stop, which acts to maintain the arm always at a determined angle with the operating member, though permitting a departure from said angle under circumstances hereinafter'explained. Consequently when the operating member is reciprocated and the normal angle of the arm and the operating member is departed from the strain on the yielding stop (as soon as the operating member is released by its cam) brings the'arm' again to its normal position and by its momentum past such position, so as to make a sudden and wide gap for the spark. The yielding member then restores the arm to its normal position by means of its elasticity. This feature of our invention is shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7 and in the form shown is especially adapted for operation with the improved adjusting means described, since it is readily connected to such adjusting means and since the yielding stop is directly on the rod H. The arm V of the igniter is held by a pair of stops on the rod H, one of which, preferably the upper, is a fixed stop consisting of a washer W, held in place, as by nuts X, and having a flat face adapted to bear on the face of the arm. The yielding stop, which for vertical engines is preferably arranged on the under side of the arm, may consist of a spiral spring Y,

held up by means of a nut Z. The igniter-operating rod H preferably passes through a flared opening a in the arm V. The pressure of the spring Y, pressing the arm against the flat face of the stop W, tends to maintain the rod in its normal position, and the strength of the'spring is such as to adapt it to return the rod to such normal position after it has been moved therefrom. With this construction the rod may be made very light, so as to be easily lifted by the spring and so as to operate with a minimum amount of shock and of wear upon the parts. The normal position, Fig. 5,,of said igniter-operating rod H is intermediate the extremepositions to which it is raised and lowered. It does not touch the adjusting-rod K except when the latter is raised by the cam and at the first downward movement after the cam releases the rod K, during Which downward-movement the rod H moves downward under the momentum of the forces hereinafter described to make an ab: normally wide opening betw en the spa k-t rminals,

When the cam Gr operates to lift the rod H, the parts assume the position of Fig. 6. The spring Y'is compressed, because of the angular position of the faces of the arm V and be cause the points of the igniter are in contact. This movement occurs while the lug L is riding on the higher part of the cam G and presses the points of the igniter into good spring contact. When the rod H is released, the expansion of the spring Y brings the arm Vto its normal horizontal position and by its momentum past said positionto that of Fig. 7

relatively to the flat face of the washer W and the distance from the center of pressure of the spring to the inner bearing edge of the washer. By this arrangement of the spring Y; therefore, we make one element serve for pressing the points together, separating them Widely and quickly and returning them to their normal position, and we also reduce considerably the shock of the parts. g

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that our invention may be variously availed of and may be considerably modified in the details and arrangements of the parts. It will be understood, therefore, that we do not limit ourselves to the specific embodiment of our invention shown and described, but desire to cover all igniter mechanism embodying the substantial principle of the invention.

What we claim, therefore, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, are the following-defined novel features, each substantially as described:

1. The combination with an igniter, of a cam for operating the same, transmitting mechanism between said cam and igniter, and an operating-arm O for moving said transmitting mechanism adapted to bear normally automatically and in all positions against a friction-plate R for holding said transmitting mechanism passive in any position to which it is moved and for permitting it to yield in case of backward movement of said cam.

2. The combination with an igniter, of a cam for operating the same, means for transmitting the motion ofsaid cam to said igniter, said means being movable radially of the axis of the cam and being also movable laterally of the axis of the cam and transversely of such radial movement, and an operating-arm O for moving said transmitting mechanism adapted to bear normally automatically and in all positions against a/friction-plate R for holding'said transmitting mechanism passive in any position to which it is moved and for permitting it to yield in case of backward movement of said cam. T r

3. The combination of a plurality of igniters, cams for operating the same, transmitting mechanisms between said cams and igniters, and a single operating-arm O for moving said transmitting mechanisms simultaneously and adapted to bear normally automatically and in all positions against afriction-plate R for holding said transmittingmechanisms passive in any position to which they are moved and permitting them to yield in case of backward movement of said cams.

4:. The combination of a plurality of igniters, operating-cams therefor, igniter-rods H, adjusting-rods K between said cams and igniter-rods, a shaft M having arms Nconnected to said adjusting-rods and having an operating-arm O mounted to bear normally, automatically and in all positions, against a friction-plate R for holding'said shaft M in any desired position, whereby the time of operation of said igniters may be varied simultaneously and said igniters may be heldincorresponding positions of adjustment and immovable relatively to each other but so as to yield together in case of backward movement of said cams.

In witness whereof we have hereunto signed our names in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CARL C. RIOTTE. EUGENE A, RIOTTE.

Witnesses:

FRED WHITE, THOMAS F. WALLACE. 

